Article excerpt

In return for an internationally funded rescue package, the
Indonesian government has agreed to make its trade practices fairer
and its markets more open. But at the same time, some officials and
activists are wondering why the world's powerful nations seem to be
missing an opportunity to help Indonesia's people become freer.

The human rights situation here has worsened lately. Hundreds
of Indonesians have been detained this year for protesting the
government's handling of its economic crisis and some activists and
students have disappeared.

"We've never been more important here," asserts one foreign
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, whose country is
supporting Indonesia's $43 billion aid package. And yet his
government, he says, seems little inclined to use this newfound
leverage to push Indonesia toward a more open democracy that shows
greater regard for human rights. Is this an opportunity lost, he is
asked? "To say the least."
In the United States, 27 members of Congress recently asked
President Clinton why the focus on reform is limited to economic
policy. "How is it," they wrote to Mr. Clinton, "that we can muster
the indignation, and subsequent pressure, to reverse an Indonesian
government decision to implement a currency board, but we are
unable to react similarly when fundamental human rights to
religious, political, and economic freedom are blatantly trampled
by the Indonesian government?"
And one of Indonesia's most prominent democracy proponents,
Muslim leader Amien Rais, recently argued that "it is high time for
the Western powers to pinpoint to {President} Suharto what he has
to do with political reformation, or all the economic reforms will
not take place as we want."
In his 32 years in power, Mr. Suharto has constructed a
political environment in which he is the arbiter of what is
acceptable. His government effectively controls who can and cannot
participate in politics. Publications that run afoul of fuzzy rules
face closure. "What is impermissible?" muses one Indonesian
journalist, also speaking on condition of anonymity. "That is hard
to say. Everything is so vague, so you have to practice
self-censorship."
Indonesia is a conglomeration of islands of different
cultures and traditions, and the government has been ruthless in
its suppression of breakaway movements, citing the need for
stability and cohesion if the country is to prosper. …